“What I want you to do is to find a certain object for me, a very powerful object at that.” The wizard told Kitana, his voice still annoyingly calm.
“And may I ask where this object is located?” Kitana replied, her body still restrained by the wizard’s spell.
“Certainly, it’s not far from here, in a abandoned temple. Apparently the ones using the temple managed to aggravate some of the gods, for the temple was swallowed up by the ground.”
“If it’s close to here, why don’t you just go find it then?”
“Oh, why would I when its so much easier to make you do it and take all the risks? And besides, the scrolls describing how to find the artefact clearly states that only a woman can pass the creatures and traps guarding the artefact.”
“Why only a woman?” Kitana asked, impetuous to get on her way to fulfil the wizard’s quest, free Tifa, and then kill him.
“Oh… let’s just say that the scrolls describe some situations were it would be very uncomfortable to be a male. You’ll be needing this, I could imagine.” The wizard suddenly threw Kitana a ring, which landed before her feet.
Picking it up, Kitana examined the ring: it was completely flat and made out of some silvery metallic, and looked as though if would fit her perfectly.
“What is this?” She asked him.
“Oh… as I hope you can see, that is a ring. What it does is to help you on your little quest. Firstly, it will lead you to the entrance to the temple. Also, it will help me keep track of you.”
Suspicious as she was, Kitana saw no other option but to put the ring on, slipping it onto her right middle finger.
“Good girl,” the wizard said mockingly, “now be on your way!”
“Wait! How do I know that you will keep your promise and release Tifa when I’ve found the object you want!?” Kitana shouted at him.
“You don’t…” The wizard said as he began to fade away.
“Arrogant bastard.” Kitana muttered once the wizard was gone, and the spell that had kept her immovable had been lifted.
She felt the ring seeming to want her to go east, and so she did.
Despite the fact that she walked all night, following the ring’s directions, Kitana did not grow tired, it seemed as though the ring gave her extra stamina.
Finally, as the sun was rising, Kitana stopped by a large rift in the ground, the ring no longer giving her directions.
“So… I’m supposed to down there, am I?” Kitana said to herself as she looked down into the dark below her.
There were several stone pillars by the rift, and Kitana quickly tied a rope round one of them, soon thereafter descending into the dark underground. |